Beginning Your Family History

Every family historian has a story about how they got into family history. We share our experiences of starting out with this great hobby and share tips for others who are just beginning.

Joe is joined by Mish Holman, professional genealogist who is particularly interested in theatre ancestors and census enumerators; Kelly Cornwell, professional family historian, blogger and speaker; Jane Hough, amateur genealogist and blogger and Andrew Martin, family historian, author, digital archivist and host of The Family Histories Podcast 

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Mish Holmam www.familyhistorygifts.co.uk,

Kelly Cornwell www.whoamifamilytreeresearch.co.uk,

Jane Hough www.allthosebefore.org.uk

Andrew Martin https://li.sten.to/familyhistoriespodcast www.familytreeuk.co.uk

Online Resources

While it is certainly true that not everything is online, an increasing amount of source material for family history can be found through the internet. Our guests share some of their favourite, lesser-known places to find online genealogy resources.

Joe is joined by Kelly Cornwell, professional family historian, blogger and speaker; Natalie Pithers, professional family historian and founder of the Curious Descendants Club  and Margaret Roberts, editor of the Playing Pasts online sports history magazine, publicity officer for the FHS of Cheshire and Society Liaison Officer for the Federation. 

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Kelly Cornwell www.whoamifamilytreeresearch.co.uk,

Natalie Pithers www.genealogystories.co.uk

Margaret Roberts www.playingpasts.co.uk and www.fhsc.org.uk

Talking to Relatives

One of the most rewarding things we can do as genealogists is to talk about our family history with relatives. We discuss approaching family members for their knowledge as well as sharing findings with our families.

Joe is joined by Kelly Cornwell, professional genealogist, speaker and blogger; Mish Holman, professional genealogist and blogger; Jane Hough, family historian and blogger and Andrew Martin, family historian, cataloguer, digital archivist and host of The Family Histories Podcast 

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Kelly Cornwell  www.whoamifamilytreeresearch.co.uk,

Mish Holman https://theswancircle.co.uk and www.familyhistorygifts.co.uk

Jane Hough  www.allthosebefore.org.uk 

Andrew Martin https://li.sten.to/familyhistoriespodcast www.familytreeuk.co.uk

Historians Collaborate

Collaboration is incredibly valuable for historical researchers of all kinds. Members of the Historians Collaborate group discuss their activities, why we should all work together and how we might do so. https://historianscollaborate.com

Joe is joined by Else Churchill, genealogist at the Society of Genealogists; Jackie Depelle, family historian and family history teacher; Mike Esbester, lecturer in history and co-lead on the Railway Work, Life & Death Project and Julia Laite, professor of history at Birkbeck, University of London 

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Elsie Churchill  www.sog.org.uk,

Jackie Depelle www.depellejg.wixsite.com/mysite,

Mike Esbester  www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk

Julia Laite www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/profile/8009689/julia-laite

Occupations: Work, Leisure and Health

By learning about occupations, we gain a better understanding of the lives of our ancestors such as their health conditions and how they spent their spare time. Our guests share stories and offer advice in this special extended episode.

Joe is joined by Margaret Roberts, sports historian and editor of the Playing Pasts online sports history magazine, publicity officer for the FHS of Cheshire and Society Liaison Officer for the Federation; Sophie Kay, professional genealogist at Khronicle and Ian Waller, retired professional genealogist, vice chairman and education officer of the Federation, Fellow of the Society of Genealogist and author of three books in the My Ancestor Was… series.

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Margaret Roberts www.playingpasts.co.uk and www.fhsc.org.uk,

Sophie Kay  www.khronicle.co.uk

Ian Waller 

Writing your Family History

It can be very enjoyable to write about our family history. It is also a useful way to focus our research. In this episode our guests discuss the different ways to write up our family histories and offer some advice for doing so.

Joe is joined by Natalie Pithers, who runs the Curious Descendants Club which helps people write their family history; Mish Holman, professional genealogist who researches and writes up family histories into books; Paul Chiddicks, Family Tree magazine’s Dear Paul and blogger and Matthew Abel, museum professional at the V&A and family historian.

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com

Natalie Pithers www.genealogystories.co.uk,

Mish Holman www.familyhistorygifts.co.uk

Paul Chiddicks www.chiddicksfamilytree.com and www.oldpalaceschoolbombing.com

Matthew Abel